October 19, 2013 1:10pm EDTOctober 19, 2013 1:06am EDTMichael Wacha is officially an October star. The rookie throws another gem in helping to send St. Louis to the World Series. SN's Ryan Fagan knows such performances aren't routine, even if Wacha makes them look that way.

Michael Wacha was sitting at his Busch Stadium locker, alone, before a mid-August game about a week after he was called up to the big leagues for the second time.

He’d recently been shuffled into the Cardinals’ bullpen, and had thrown three perfect innings of relief over two outings—he faced the minimum nine batters and struck out seven of them. At that point in his young major league career, he’d made four starts and two relief appearances, and had a pedestrian 3.86 ERA in 25 2/3 innings.

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“Whenever they need me, I’ll go out there and throw whatever they need me to do,” Wacha told Sporting News. “I’m looking forward to making a run to the end of the year.”

Who knew the Cardinals would ask so much of the 22-year-old rookie in October? And who knew he would deliver such perfection during a stirring playoff run? All Wacha did in the NLCS was stare down eventual 2013 Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw in Games 2 and 6, and produce 13 2/3 scoreless innings.

And, oh yeah, he was named the NLCS MVP as the Cardinals wrapped up the series in six games to advance to their fourth World Series in 10 years. No big deal.

Standing on the stage after the Cardinals’ series-clinching 9-0 win—very much not alone in the moment—he told TBS broadcaster Ernie Johnson, “You just can’t let the moment get too big for you.”

Clearly, that wasn’t a problem for Wacha. And while this was the biggest test he’s passed in his career, it wasn’t the first test the No. 19 overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft has passed with flying colors. Succeeding on the October stage was always a part of the Cardinals’ best-case scenario plan for the hard-throwing right-hander.

“(We) got a real first look at him in spring training, put him to the test,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said before Friday’s game. “Threw him out there in high-leverage situations as far as spring training goes, and he handled them all well. So he made enough of an impression that we could have probably kept him, but it wasn't the right time.”

The first time he was called up, at the tail end of May, he made just three starts before the club sent him back to Class AAA Memphis to work on a few more things. Obviously, he mastered those tasks, and the Cardinals put him in the rotation for good at the beginning of September. He had a 1.72 ERA in his final five starts of the regular season.

“(He) continues to show us why we've all been excited for a while,” Matheny said.

In his three playoff starts, Wacha has a 0.43 ERA. He’s thrown 21 innings, allowed eight hits, four walks and one run and struck out 22 batters, all in high-pressure situations. His NLDS start against Pittsburgh was in Game 4, with the Cardinals facing elimination, down 2-1 in the series. He took a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

In Game 2 of the NLCS, he threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in a game St. Louis won 1-0. On Thursday, he threw seven shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk. And next week, the Cardinals will ask him to do it all over again in the World Series.